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The Nats and the presidents brought the fireworks back to DC tonight as they kicked off their homestand with a Curly W against the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park. Another great bullpen effort capped home runs by Josh Willingham, Adam Dunn, and Ian Desmond, but for pure aggression, you couldn’t beat the 4th-inning presidents race.

Power problems knocked out all of the stadium scoreboards for an extended period tonight, but not before the presidents got in their usual multimedia introduction.

Teddy Roosevelt jumped out in front and held the lead for much of the race before being passed by Abe in the stretch; but as Lincoln approached the finish line, the original Rough Rider tackled him from behind.

George Washington could have had a clear shot to victory, but instead chose to join Teddy in the beating, delivering a serious body slam to the Great Emancipator while he was down. The message was clear: nobody’s handing Abe the title without a fight.

Thomas Jefferson stayed above the fray and moved into a second place tie with George for the season. He was the only president to reach the finish line.